4
Jesus Opened My Eyes to the Truth
Question 1:
When have you been really glad you could see clearly?
THE POINT
Jesus led me to increasingly see who He is.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
When I moved to Texas in 2005, I needed to get a new driver’s license. When I went to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the woman assisting me administered an eye test. All I had to do was read the letters on the screen. No problem. I aced the first screen and the second screen. But the third screen was broken. It looked like a Rorschach test. When I asked about the broken machine, she responded with a smirk and told me to read the line again. The machine was working just fine, but my eyes weren’t. I needed glasses and I had no idea. I am not sure how long my eyesight had been suffering, but I had obviously never noticed because I had become used to it.
Later when I put on glasses, I understood what I had been missing. This is often how we operate in the spiritual realm. We think we’re seeing life for what it is, but when we encounter Jesus and see the world through Him, we see the truth—and we see it clearly.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
John 9:1-7
1 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. 4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.
My wife often accuses me of having so much out in front of me that I miss what is right around me. It’s sometimes easier to plan and schedule things weeks or months out than it is to find a few minutes to take care of something in the now. This was not the case for Jesus. He knew where He was going (ultimately to the cross) and yet He took advantage of every moment along the way to love, teach, and serve people.
This was the case when Jesus and His disciples were on their way out of the temple complex (John 8:59) and they passed by a blind man. The temple area was highly populated and well trafficked. With all the hustle and bustle around the area, it would have been easy for Jesus and His disciples to just walk on by. Even more so because Jesus was already having to “go stealth” in order to escape being stoned by the Pharisees. This threat, though, did not keep Jesus from seeing this man. Jesus sees everyone and everything. Nothing escapes His sight. And what did Jesus see? A man who had never seen anything. What a setting for an amazing encounter!
Question 2:
When have you seen God’s work on display in someone’s life?
In the first century it was assumed that any illness or infirmity was the result of sin.
The religious leaders looked down on the disabled because they saw them as unclean and sinful. This was one of the primary ways Jesus set Himself apart from them. While the religious leaders ignored and even shunned these people, Jesus embraced them. He saw them and their needs.
Even Jesus’s disciples assumed sin was the cause of the man’s blindness. They were unsure, though, whose sin had caused this ailment. Was it his or his parents? Jesus’s answer helped them deconstruct years of bad theology. What Jesus was about to say would open their spiritual eyes even as He would open the blind man’s physical eyes.
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” Boom! A new truth to process. This man who had lived in darkness was about to see for the first time. The light of the world was going to illuminate the darkness of this man’s life.
We are not told why Jesus spit and made mud, but after Jesus covered his eyes with it, He sent him to the Pool of Siloam. Siloam means sent. The “sent one” of God, who is the light of the world, sent this man to the pool. It’s important to note that the emphasis should be on the one who sent him, not on the location to which he was sent. The healing didn’t come from the waters of Siloam, but from the “Sent One” who brings light into the darkness.
John 9:32-33
32 “Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
The Pharisees in John 9 missed the point. This man, blind from birth, could now see, but these men were only concerned with what day of the week the miracle happened and who this healer thought He was. The “religious experts” who were supposed to be able to see with spiritual eyes were utterly blind, but the man born blind who was not the “expert” on spiritual matters saw a miracle and believed the miracle worker. He could see enough to know that this man, Jesus, must be from God. How could He not be? He had done something no one thought possible: heal a man blind from birth.
Question 3:
What are some obstacles that prevent people from recognizing God’s work today?
One great thing about Jesus is that He is still at work. The question is: will we see Him at work? One of the most impactful spiritual principles I have ever experienced came from Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God. Blackaby wrote that Christians should look for where God is at work around us and join Him in that work. I was a teenager when I first heard that, and since then, I have always tried to do that. It has become a habit for me to ask God daily to show me what He is doing around me. Repeatedly God has opened my eyes to something He is doing just because I asked for my eyes to be opened.
When we are blessed to notice God on the move, we don’t need to stand around and argue about it like the Pharisees did; we just need to jump in and join in. When we obey Him in this, we are not only jumping into His work, but we are jumping in with His power.
The formerly blind man said something to these leaders that was extremely profound, especially considering he had not been around Jesus all that long: “If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything” (v. 33). In fact, he said that not only could Jesus not have done this miracle, but He could not have done anything. This is the same truth Jesus would later reiterate to His disciples. “The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5b). We have no power to act. Nothing that is eternal will be done by our hands or said by our lips unless we stay connected to Jesus. He is the source of all wisdom, power, and strength.
John 9:35-38
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked. 37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.
After the confrontation with the Pharisees in verses 30-33, the formerly blind man was belittled by the “spiritual shepherds” of Israel and “they threw him out” (v. 34). In that moment, the man showed greater spiritual insight than the religious leaders, and they responded by excommunicating him! By excluding him from the Jewish community, they wouldn’t have to hear him anymore.
Upon hearing that this man had been cast out, Jesus did what a true shepherd of Israel would do: He went looking for him. This is very intentional. Looking for and finding someone doesn’t happen by accident. So often when we talk about situations like this we talk in terms of “finding God,” but God is not lost at all; we are. This is why He sent His Son into the world to find us and save us. So, it shouldn’t surprise us at all to see the Good Shepherd finding the man.
Question 4:
How has your understanding of Jesus grown over time?
Upon finding the man, Jesus asked him one of the most important questions that can be asked: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” This is a question we all should wrestle with. Do we have faith in Jesus? Ironically, this man was ready to believe even before he knew who the Son of Man is. His faith had an anticipating nature about it. He was unlike the Pharisees, who refused to believe the truth. They refused to see the truth with eyes of faith. The blind man in this story wasn’t the one suffering from the great blindness; it was the Pharisees. They had seen Jesus physically but couldn’t believe, but the blind man saw Jesus with spiritual eyes and believed.
The man’s faith culminated in both a declaration and worship. A declaration is important because it verbalizes our faith. It’s an outward sign of something we have come to believe. Another way the man expressed his faith was though worship. As we see more and more of who Jesus is, we increasingly desire to worship Him.
Question 5:
What makes a personal testimony so powerful?
SEEING THE TRUTH
Fill in the acrostic below with truths about Jesus that you have come to see.
The first one has been provided for you.
T-rustworthy
R-
U-
T-
H-
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
ROMANS 10:9
LIVE IT OUT
Jesus led me to increasingly see who He is. Choose one of the following applications:
See. Determine to read through the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As you read, take note of any insights you discover about who Jesus is and how He desires to work in your life.
Pray. Pray for God to open your eyes and heart. Life change happens when Jesus is at work in us and around us. Ask God to give you eyes to see the people around you who are in need. Jesus saw the blind man for who he was. May God help us see people the way He sees them.
Help. Jesus met a physical need and then used it as a springboard to discuss a spiritual need. Find someone this week who has a need that you can help with. After serving the person, use the opportunity afforded to you to talk about Jesus.
All of us reach a point where we realize our physical limitations, whether it’s our sight or something else. But far more important is that we come to see our spiritual limitations and turn to Jesus for salvation.
